Surprisingly, about a million people around the world cannot feel pain. Fractures, burns, cuts go unnoticed for these people for a long time. In addition, infectious and inflammatory diseases are also often neglected due to their late detection. Consider the essence of insensitivity to pain, its causes and treatment.
The essence of the phenomenon
Pain is an unpleasant sensation that occurs as a result of harming the human body. It serves as a threat signal, a natural mechanism for responding to external and internal stimuli. Thanks to her, a person understands that he is in danger, and does everything possible to stop the influence of destructive factors on the body.
A feeling of pain occurs when stimuli act on nerve endings that transmit a signal to the brain. With insensitivity to pain, a malfunction occurs at the stage of signal transmission along the nerves. Because of this, a person does not feel the impact on the body of harmful and destructive factors, he is not able to recognize the threat to health in time. This condition can be a huge danger to life.
What is pain insensitivity called? Analgesia is a partial or complete loss of sensitivity. A person may not feel pain in certain parts of the body, he may feel it weakly or not at all. The effect may be temporary or permanent.
Studying this disease can help create the most effective and safe painkillers.
Causes
A person may stop feeling pain for the following reasons:
- due to diseases that affect the central nervous system, the perception of pain in certain localized areas of the body may be impaired;
- injuries and diseases of the musculoskeletal system: fracture and displacement of the spine, osteochondrosis, intervertebral hernia;
- severe stress can cause temporary, partial or complete loss of sensitivity to pain;
- congenital pathology.
Congenital pain insensitivity
Scientists have found that congenital inability to feel pain is the result of a gene mutation. As a result of studies, it was found that most often a similar effect is a consequence of mutations in the SCN9A and PRDM12 genes. In addition, their blocking deprives people of the ability to distinguish odors. A mutation of the ZFHX2 gene was found in an entire family of six people. It controls the work of 16 other genes, some of which are responsible for the perception of pain by a person.
It turned out that congenital insensitivity to pain is inherited. The largest congestion of people with this disease was found in a village in northern Sweden. There immediately live 60 people who do not feel pain.
Pros and cons of this phenomenon
The advantages of pain insensitivity are few, but they still exist. A large number of surgical interventions are performed using local or general anesthesia, which often does not affect the person in the best way. People who do not feel pain do not need both anesthesia and painkillers.
Such people can not be afraid of pain shock, which could very well lead to death. In the event of injuries, they better control their own body and are able to leave the danger zone, even despite serious damage.
Insensitivity to pain opens the way to demonstrating the unusual abilities of one's body to others, which can bring fame and money.
The main disadvantage is the inability of a person to understand that his body is under the influence of harmful or destructive factors. Such people more often than others receive fractures and injuries, they are able to bite off the tip of their tongue and not feel it. They can also cause themselves unconscious harm. This disease is especially dangerous for young children who are not yet able to recognize the danger.
People who do not feel pain do not seek medical help on time, and therefore their illnesses can have serious complications.
Treatment
In the treatment of acquired insensitivity to pain, it is primarily worth diagnosing the cause of this deviation. In case of stress, you need to contact a therapist. For the treatment of nervous abnormalities, you need to get an appointment with a neurologist. After determining the exact cause of the disease, the doctor will prescribe the appropriate treatment.
More complicated is the case with congenital insensitivity to pain. While doctors are in search of a solution to this problem. Sometimes patients are prescribed "Naloxone" and other opioid antagonists, but they are not always effective.
Thus, insensitivity to pain is a disease that can lead to sad consequences. A person with this pathology is not able in time and adequately to perceive the danger hanging over his health. Therefore, in the event of such a deviation, it is necessary to consult a doctor as soon as possible.